Gurobi introduces new optimization game set in a fast-paced coffee shop. Gurobean, companion to the "Burrito Optimization Game" with 85,000+ plays, introduces advanced concepts like nonlinearity and uncertainty June 29, 2026 June 26, 2026 Share your coffee stories with Comunicaffe by writing to [email protected]. BEAVERTON, Ore., USA - Gurobi Optimization, LLC, the leader in decision intelligence technology, today announced the launch of Gurobean: The Coffee Optimization Game, a new educational game that brings nonlinearity, simulation, and decision-making under uncertainty to life. Following the success of the Burrito Optimization Game - which has been played over 85,000 times by learners across the world since its launch in 2022 - Gurobean places players behind the counter of a virtual coffee shop, where they must make critical decisions around pricing, staffing, queue management, inventory levels, and more. The free, interactive game furthers Gurobi's ongoing commitment to open education, teaching players: * The value of mathematical optimization * How quickly real-world decision problems become too complex to solve by trial and error * How nonlinearity and uncertainty make outcomes harder to predict * Why solvers like Gurobi and other optimization algorithms are essential for finding decisions that perform well across many possible scenarios Gurobean was co-developed by Dr. Larry Snyder, Deputy Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor at Lehigh University, who also served as lead story developer and game producer for the Burrito Optimization Game. "We built Gurobean for any student who wants to learn about nonlinear optimization, but you could even take the word 'nonlinear' out. We think this is a great game for any student who wants to learn about problem solving from an optimization perspective," says Dr. Snyder. For educators looking to teach the game in their classrooms, a library of free resources is available, including a teaching guide, sample lesson plan, and a quick-start guide to running a championship game. In addition, a virtual in-game expert named "Alinea" (a reference to nonlinearity) offers players helpful tips and explanations around graphs, nonlinearity, and solution feasibility. "The Burrito Optimization Game proved there's a real appetite for learning optimization in an accessible, hands-on way. Gurobean takes that further, as the decisions players face mirror the complexity businesses navigate every day," says Duke Perrucci, CEO, Gurobi. "Our hope is that this will not only be a powerful resource in classrooms, but also for business users looking to understand the value of mathematical optimization in industry." Those with an existing Gurobi account can access Gurobean here; new users can register to create a User Portal account.

Gurobi introduces new Optimization Game set in a fast-paced Coffee shop. Gurobean, companion to the "Burrito Optimization Game" with 85,000+ plays, introduces advanced concepts like nonlinearity and uncertainty. BEAVERTON, Ore. - Gurobi Optimization, LLC, the leader in decision intelligence technology, today announced the launch of Gurobean: The Coffee Optimization Game, a new educational game that brings nonlinearity, simulation, and decision-making under uncertainty to life. Following the...

Gurobi Optimization has appointed Dr Pascal Van Hentenryck to head its newly established AI Innovation Lab, a research initiative focused on combining multiple AI technologies with optimisation to solve complex decision problems. Dr Van Hentenryck joins from Georgia Tech, where he served as the A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Professor, and directed the NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization. He is recognised for his work combining machine learning and optimisation, particularly in power and energy systems. The lab forms part of Gurobi's long-term technology strategy. Whilst mathematical optimisation remains the company's core approach, supported by thousands of customer implementations, Gurobi believes combining multiple AI methods will drive further performance improvements in decision-making systems. Dr Van Hentenryck will also strengthen collaboration between Gurobi, industry partners and academic institutions.